It still amazes me that people flock to Ayn Rand like they do. I've read a couple of her books, and while there is a certain appeal to it (mostly the complaining about government inefficiency for me) it astounds me that people list her as their favorite/most influenced by writer. In my opinion one of the things that has made America successful is altruism. Across the board (left, right, middle) if you ask voters they will agree with the concept of altruism in government. Sacrificing for the greater good. Ayn Rand treats altruism as categorically evil. It seems to me that most people who "love" Ayn Rand have never read a whole book by her. As my final point, I do agree with some of her gripes with government. In government bureaucracy often acts inefficiently. It's not who does the best work, but who plays the political game the best. Even in places that are supposed to be results-oriented like NASA or the CIA, who you know and how well you play the game often gets people the high positions. But that's kinda true wherever you go. The entirety of her message is entirely unpalatable for me though. "Being selfish is the best thing you can do" is essentially her point. Atlas Shrugged is wholly against charity of any kind. It's against altruism of any kind. The fact that people claim to be Christians and fans of Ayn Rand baffles me daily.
In my opinion one of the things that has made America successful is altruism. Across the board (left, right, middle) if you ask voters they will agree with the concept of altruism in government. Sacrificing for the greater good. Ayn Rand treats altruism as categorically evil. It seems to me that most people who "love" Ayn Rand have never read a whole book by her.
-The thing is, many of the people who love Ayn Rand have read her books, one such person is the former Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan. He knows what those books represent, he knows that the distain of altruism is at the core of those books, and based on his statements that no author has shaped his views more, Id wager he (like many other devotees) agrees. I think that at some point serious republicans need to recognize that their party has left them. That said, the left is a disaster area too. I realize that this is a cliché thing to say, but what we need is a common sense party. I was sitting at dinner the other night and overheard a woman at the table next to me talking about how her and her husband were "fiscally conservative but socially moderate". That pretty much sums up every single person's view of themselves. Why don't we have a party that represents that?
It's really tough. I'm still registered as a Republican because I agree with the ideas of limited federal government and heavy defense spending. But the Republican party has become so vitriolic that it's hard to have any sort of dialog. The middle needs a new party. Both parties in our two-party system have cut out the middle. I'd like to see more voting for independents really. I small bloc of independent senators and congressman would help to force the parties to cater to the middle again. Also it'd help break a lot of the political deadlock that has become to commonplace these days.
small bloc of independent senators and congressman would help to force the parties to cater to the middle again. Also it'd help break a lot of the political deadlock that has become to commonplace these days.
I could get behind that for sure.